Barking and Dagenham’s state schools outscore 72% of towns in England
In reading, writing and maths together, 64% of Barking and Dagenham’s eleven-year-olds met the expected standard, below London’s towns (70%) but above towns in England (62%). Barking and Dagenham grades B+ for schools, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results: #31 of 33 in London. Ofsted is shown, not graded.
Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually get lower results. At St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 32% of pupils are on free school meals and 76% meet the expected standard; a typical school in England with that intake reaches 60%. Results and intake ↓
Written from the Department for Education and Ofsted data on this page.
School Grade
Barking and Dagenham grades B+ for schools
Against every town in England with results; Wales publishes none.
Primary: reading, writing and maths at 11 (64% meet the standard)Better than 66% of towns in England
Secondary: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (49.1 and 50%)Better than 69% of towns in England
Each of Barking and Dagenham’s 43 primaries: % meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (2023–25)
Each of Barking and Dagenham’s 12 secondaries: Attainment 8 (2025/26)
England’s average schoolBarking and Dagenham’s average school
The primary figure: 43 primaries in the town, 10,312 pupils in results over three years. The secondary figure: 12 secondaries in the town, 3,143 pupils in results. Mainstream state schools only (grammar schools included); special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19 colleges are listed below but not graded. Each school’s results are compared with every school in England, then weighted by its pupils.
Map
Where Barking and Dagenham’s 62 state schools are
Each school at its address, coloured by its own letter and sized by pupils. Open a school for its own page. The dashed shape is Barking and Dagenham’s built-up area.
PrimarySecondarySpecial, nursery, 16–19Size: pupilsABCDNo letter
Most schools give places by distance once siblings are in, so the schools nearest a home matter more than any league table.
Results and intake
Which schools do better than their intake suggests
Schools with more pupils on free school meals tend to get lower results. The dashed line is the typical school in England for each level of free school meals; the band holds the middle two-thirds. A dot above the band is doing better than schools like it.
Primaries: KS2 reading, writing and maths against free school meals
Secondaries: Attainment 8 against free school meals
The share of pupils on free school meals runs from 12% at The St Teresa Catholic Primary School to 42% at Dagenham Park CofE School. Against schools with the same intake, St Margarets CofE Primary School does best: 88% with 18% on free school meals, where a typical school would reach 64%. 24 of 43 primaries and 8 of 12 secondaries are above the line.
Free school meals: pupils eligible now, DfE January 2026 census. The typical-school line is a straight-line fit across every graded school in England. It describes; it doesn’t grade: the School Grade uses results alone.
Getting a place
How school places work in Barking and Dagenham
Barking and Dagenham Council handles applications for every state school in Barking and Dagenham, academies included. You apply to the council where you live, even for a school in another area.
Secondary (starting at 11)Apply by 31 October of Year 6. Offers on 1 March.
Primary (starting in Reception)Apply by 15 January before the September your child starts. Offers on 16 April.
Moving mid-yearApply to the council for an in-year place; it tells you which schools have room.
When a school is full
Every school publishes its admissions rules. Children in care come first, then, at most schools, brothers and sisters of current pupils, then those who live nearest. 11 of Barking and Dagenham’s 56 mainstream schools have a religious character; some of them give priority by church attendance, so check each school’s rules. Infant classes are limited to 30 by law. If you’re refused a place, you can appeal to an independent panel.
Pupils on roll as a share of the school’s official capacity. The black tick is 100%; 6 schools are at or over it.
Robert Clack incl. nursery129%
Thames View Infants incl. nursery112%
Village Infants' incl. nursery110%
The Warren101%
Rush Green incl. nursery100%
The St Teresa incl. nursery100%
Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College100%
Jo Richardson Community100%
Manor Junior98%
Warren Junior98%
Show all 56 schools
Henry Green incl. nursery97%
Grafton incl. nursery97%
Dagenham Park96%
The Sydney Russell96%
Furze Infant incl. nursery96%
Thomas Arnold School, Rowdowns Road incl. nursery95%
Becontree incl. nursery95%
Beam incl. nursery94%
Southwood incl. nursery94%
St Margarets incl. nursery94%
Five Elms incl. nursery93%
Rose Lane incl. nursery92%
St Vincent's incl. nursery92%
Eastbury Community incl. nursery91%
John Perry incl. nursery91%
Northbury incl. nursery91%
All Saints90%
William Ford89%
Gascoigne incl. nursery88%
Monteagle incl. nursery88%
Manor incl. nursery87%
Richard Alibon School with ARP for Cognitive and Learning Difficulties : SEN Base incl. nursery86%
George Carey incl. nursery85%
Riverside85%
Hunters Hall incl. nursery85%
Eastbury incl. nursery82%
St Peter's incl. nursery82%
Thames View Junior81%
Valence incl. nursery81%
The Leys incl. nursery80%
Marsh Green incl. nursery78%
Roding incl. nursery73%
Goresbrook incl. nursery73%
Ripple incl. nursery72%
William Bellamy incl. nursery72%
The James Cambell incl. nursery72%
Riverside69%
Greatfields68%
Godwin incl. nursery67%
Parsloes incl. nursery65%
Dorothy Barley Junior64%
Dorothy Barley Infants' incl. nursery62%
St Joseph's incl. nursery60%
St Joseph's incl. nursery58%
Eastbrook50%
Greatfields8%
DfE register of schools (GIAS), January 2026 census. Capacity often excludes a nursery class, so a school with a nursery can show over 100%.
The schools
62 state schools in Barking and Dagenham
Each school’s own letter compares its results with every state school in England of the same phase: Key Stage 2 for primaries, GCSEs for secondaries. Open a school for its results, how its letter is worked out, Ofsted and a map.
Letters of Barking and Dagenham’s schoolsA15B24C11D111 without a letter
Key result: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (GCSEs, 2025/26 provisional) for secondaries; the share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (KS2, DfE’s three-year average) for primaries. Pupils: the January 2026 school census. No letter: an infant or first school (no KS2 tests), a new school, a small cohort DfE suppresses, or a special school, nursery or college. Independent schools aren’t included.
Ofsted
Ofsted report cards
Each school’s latest inspection; report cards replace one-word judgements as schools are re-inspected.
Outstanding 7Good 10Report card 7Requires improvement 1Ungraded inspection only 35No published grade 2
Ofsted stopped giving one-word judgements in 2024. Until a school is re-inspected, its last overall judgement is its most recent single grade; a school judged years ago may have changed a lot since.
Since November 2025 Ofsted gives each area of a school one of five grades (exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention, urgent improvement) and says whether safeguarding is met, instead of one overall word. 7 of Barking and Dagenham’s 62 state schools have a report card so far; the others show their last inspection under the old framework. Ofsted is never part of the School Grade.
Academies are state schools run by a trust rather than the council: the trust employs the staff and can set its own curriculum and term dates. Admissions still go through the council.
Run by
Schools
Pupils
Their letters
Partnership LearningThe Sydney Russell, Riverside, Greatfields, Eastbury, The James Cambell, Riverside, Thames View Junior, Riverside Bridge, Brook Sixth Form and, Greatfields, Oxlow Bridge
11
8,200
B+AB−C−B−A+B−
Good Shepherd Catholic TrustSt Joseph's, St Joseph's, The St Teresa, St Vincent's
4
965
C−AA+B−
Loxford School Trust LimitedThe Warren
1
1,392
B−
United Learning TrustGoresbrook
1
1,089
A
Tvi LearningThames View Infants
1
403
—
Genesis Education TrustSt Margarets
1
393
A+
Reach2 Academy TrustDorothy Barley Junior
1
294
C+
Compass Partnership of SchoolsPathways
1
83
—
Barking and Dagenham CouncilRobert Clack, Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College, Eastbury Community, Jo Richardson Community, Dagenham Park, All Saints, Eastbrook, Manor, Gascoigne, Grafton, Roding, Ripple, Valence, Rush Green, Northbury, William Bellamy, Monteagle, John Perry, George Carey, Hunters Hall, Southwood, Manor Junior, Rose Lane, Richard Alibon School with ARP for Cognitive and Learning Difficulties : SEN Base, Beam, Warren Junior, Five Elms, Henry Green, Becontree, Thomas Arnold School, Rowdowns Road, Furze Infant, Godwin, Parsloes, St Peter's, The Leys, Marsh Green, William Ford, Trinity, Village Infants', Dorothy Barley Infants', Mayesbrook Park
In England young people stay in education or training until 18: a sixth form, a college, or an apprenticeship.
Every state secondary in Barking and Dagenham has its own sixth form. Barking and Dagenham College, a further-education college, is in the London borough.
Secondaries with a sixth form
12 of 12
state schools in Barking and Dagenham
Colleges within 12 miles
4
nearest: Barking and Dagenham College
Grammar schools in Barking and Dagenham
0
no selective state secondaries
College
Distance
Barking and Dagenham CollegeFurther-education college · RM7 0XU
Special schools and alternative provision in Barking and Dagenham
Barking and Dagenham has 4 special schools (Oxlow Bridge, Pathways, Riverside Bridge and Trinity: 704 pupils) and 1 alternative provision school, for pupils who can’t attend mainstream school for a time. A special-school place isn’t applied for like a mainstream one: for a child with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), Barking and Dagenham Council names the school in the plan, after asking the family’s preference. These schools have no letter, because their results don’t compare with mainstream schools’. Their cards ↑
Barking and Dagenham Council’s SEND Local Offer lists support beyond these schools.
Towns its size
21st of 42 English towns and cities of 153,000 to 295,000
Ranked by School Grade, best first: the towns and cities either side of Barking and Dagenham, and the top and bottom of the group.
Redbridge has the best-graded schools nearby (A+). Small places often use the schools within 3 km, so neighbours can share schools.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Expected standard at Key Stage 2. The share of 11-year-olds who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, in tests and teacher assessment at the end of primary school. We use DfE’s three-year average (2023–2025) to steady small schools.
•
Higher standard. The share working at greater depth in all three. In Barking and Dagenham: 8% (England’s average school: 8%).
•
Attainment 8. A pupil’s GCSE grades across eight subjects, with English and maths counted twice, added up. 50 is roughly a grade 5 in every subject.
•
Grade 5+ in English and maths. A strong pass in both. Grade 4 is a standard pass.
•
Provisional. 2025/26 GCSE figures are DfE’s first release; revised figures follow in February, usually within a point.
•
Progress 8. Not shown: there is none for 2025/26, because these pupils sat no KS2 tests in 2020 (Covid).
•
Free school meals. Pupils eligible for free school meals now, from the January census: the usual measure of how many pupils come from low-income homes.
•
Independent schools. Not included: they publish no results comparable with state schools’.
Questions about schools in Barking and Dagenham
Are schools in Barking and Dagenham good?
Barking and Dagenham’s state schools earn a B+ against schools across England: primary results beat 66% of towns in England; secondary results beat 69% of towns in England, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results. School places are handled by Barking and Dagenham council.
What is the best secondary school in Barking and Dagenham?
On 2025/26 GCSE results, Riverside School: Attainment 8 of 57.9 and 64% with grade 5+ in English and maths, against 47.3 at the average school in England. Results are one measure; distance decides most places.
What is the best primary school in Barking and Dagenham?
On Key Stage 2 results over 2023–25, St Margarets CofE Primary School: 88% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England.
Do Barking and Dagenham secondary schools have sixth forms?
Yes, all 12 do.
How do I apply for a school place in Barking and Dagenham?
Through Barking and Dagenham Council, for every state school including academies. Secondary applications close on 31 October (offers 1 March); primary on 15 January (offers 16 April).
How many schools in Barking and Dagenham are full?
6 of 56 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as places, on DfE’s January 2026 census. A full school still admits by its rules, usually distance after siblings.
How many state schools are in Barking and Dagenham?
62 open state-funded schools are located in Barking and Dagenham’s built-up area: 48 primary, 12 secondary and 2 other (special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19). Independent schools aren’t included.
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026 · DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), further-education and sixth-form colleges · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
